MADRID: Spanish opposition parties launched a fierce campaign Friday to end the conservative government of Mariano Rajoy after courts ruled that his Popular Party profited from a large kickbacks-for-contracts scheme.
The Socialist opposition announced a vote of no confidence against the prime minister with the backing of anti-establishment and left-wing parties, while the pro-business Ciudadanos (Citizens) — which had supported the conservative minority government until now — urged Rajoy to call a fresh election.
But Rajoy ruled out stepping down, saying he was committed to remaining in power until the end of his term, in 2020.
“All this is nonsense,” the 63-year old conservative politician told reporters in a televised press conference. He called the opposition’s move “opportunist,” and said the no-confidence vote “goes against the stability in Spain, damages the economic recovery, introduces uncertainty and goes against the interests of all citizens.”
The moves followed the conviction of 29 businesspeople and former Popular Party officials for crimes including fraud, tax evasion and money laundering over the 1999-2005 illegal scheme that, according to Thursday’s court decision, helped fund the ruling party.
The ruling triggered “social indignation” that has put Spain “in a situation of an extreme institutional crisis,” Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez said Friday.
“There is only one person responsible for the political disaffection,” he told reporters. “That person is called Mariano Rajoy.”
Parliamentary rules in Spain require a proposal of an alternative prime minister in a no-confidence vote.
Sanchez said he will call elections if he wins the vote. Meanwhile, the popular center-right Ciudadanos (Citizens) party urged Rajoy to call elections or threatened to push for a separate no confidence vote.
“We need a clean and strong government to confront the separatist defiance (in Catalonia),” its leader, Albert Rivera, tweeted.
No date has been set for the vote, but it could be as early as next week according to parliamentary rules. The Socialists will need at least 176 of the 350 votes in the national congress, where they only control 84 seats as opposed to 136 held by the Popular Party.
Although the Socialists have enlisted the backing of 71 leftwing and anti-establishment lawmakers, they would need the 32 extra votes of the pro-business Ciudadanos, which is reluctant to side with the left-wing or the Catalan separatists.
A successful motion of no confidence is unlikely at this stage, said Antonio Barroso, an analyst with the London-based Teneo Intelligence consultancy firm. “Opposition parties will likely engage in a blame game rather than effectively coordinate to get rid of Rajoy,” he said.
Friday’s political jockeying comes after a roller-coaster ride this week for Rajoy’s party, whose win on Wednesday of a key approval for the 2018 national budget had secured, in theory, enough breathing space for him to survive until the end of the term, in 2020.
But the setback came less than 24 hours later in the form of a 1,687-page ruling on the so-called Gurtel case, considered one of the gravest corruption episodes in Spain’s modern history.
The judges issued prison sentences totaling 351 years and a 245,000-euro fine ($ 287,000) for the conservative party in power, which the ruling describes as a “profit-seeking participant” in the scheme.
The verdict also considered that a network involving companies and party officials was established to arrange travel and organize events for PP in exchange for public contracts.
In some of the most damaging parts of the ruling, the judges said that PP ran a slush fund at least until 2008 and questioned the credibility of Rajoy when he denied knowing that the scheme was in place during a court hearing where the prime minister testified as a witness.
The convictions immediately triggered turmoil for Rajoy, who is combating separatist defiance in Catalonia and has for years defended his party against dozens of corruption allegations. Spain’s leading El Pais newspaper opened its Friday editorial calling Rajoy’s cabinet a “zombie government.”
The ruling party has said it will appeal the part of the verdict that found it was a profit-seeking participant in the scheme.
Rajoy, who has said he wants to run for a third term as prime minister after 2020, repeated on Friday that nobody in the current administration or in the party’s leadership was aware of any wrongdoing, and that the court ruling only fines his party without handing any criminal charges.
Spanish stocks plummeted on Friday as the political crisis unfolded, with the benchmark Ibex 35 index losing around 2 percent of its value by mid-afternoon.
Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy on the ropes over party graft case
Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy on the ropes over party graft case
- The Socialist opposition announced a vote of no confidence against the prime minister with the backing of anti-establishment and left-wing parties.
- The moves followed the conviction of 29 businesspeople and former Popular Party officials for crimes including fraud, tax evasion and money laundering.
Bangladesh’s ailing former premier Khaleda Zia leaves country for treatment in London
- Her ailments include liver cirrhosis, cardiac disease and kidney problems, her physician says
- Khaleda Zia was sentenced to 17 years in jail under Hasina’s rule following two corruption cases
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia left the nation’s capital for London on Tuesday for medical treatment, said one of her advisers.
Zahiruddin Swapan, an adviser to Zia, told The Associated Press by phone that the three-time former premier and head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport late Tuesday on an air ambulance.
“Our senior leaders left the airport seeing her off,” Swapan said.
Her ailments include liver cirrhosis, cardiac disease and kidney problems, according to her physician.
Zia left behind a South Asian nation grappling with uncertainty over its political future after her archrival, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was ousted in a student-led mass uprising in August. Zia and Hasina are the most influential political leaders in Bangladesh.
An interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is running the country and plans to hold elections in December this year or in the first half of 2026.
Zia was sentenced to 17 years in jail under Hasina’s rule following two corruption cases stemming from 2001-2006 when she was prime minister. Her supporters say the charges against her were politically motivated, an allegation Hasina’s administration denied. Under Yunus, Zia was acquitted in one of the cases in November and an appeal in the second case was being heard on Tuesday.
Zia, 79, was freed from prison on bail under Hasina through a government order and had been undergoing medical treatment in Bangladesh. But Hasina’s administration did not allow her to travel abroad for treatment despite requests seeking approval.
The special air ambulance was sent by Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. Hundreds of her supporters gathered outside her residence in the city’s upscale Gulshan area to see her off.
Zia’s motorcade took nearly three hours to cross about a 10-kilometer (6-mile) stretch of road to get to the airport from her residence in Dhaka’s Gulshan area as thousands of her desperate supporters greeted her on the way, creating traffic chaos. Her hours-long journey to the airport was broadcast live by television stations.
Enamul Haque Chowdhury, a close aide of Zia, told reporters that the air ambulance had arrived from Doha to take her to London, where her eldest son and heir apparent Tarique Rahman has been in exile since 2007. Rahman is the acting chairman of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party and is expected to lead the party toward the election. The country’s dynastic politics have long focused on the families of Hasina and Zia.
Zia is the wife of late President Ziaur Rahman, a former military chief who rose to prominence during years of tumultuous politics after Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s independence leader, was assassinated along with most of his family members in a military coup in 1975. Zia’s husband was also killed in 1981 in another military coup after he formed his political party and ruled the country as president for three years. Hasina’s father led Bangladesh’s independence war against Pakistan, aided by India, in 1971.
Zia’s personal physician, A.Z.M. Zahid Hossain, said Qatar’s emir arranged the special aircraft with medical facilities for the former prime minister, whose ailments include liver cirrhosis, cardiac disease and kidney problems.
Her departure follows dramatic political developments since last August, when Hasina’s 15-year rule ended. Hasina fled into exile in India as she and her close aides faced charges of killing hundreds of protesters during a mass protest movement that began in July.
Zia’s departure could create a symbolic vacuum in the country’s politics amid efforts by a student group that led the anti-Hasina protest to form a new political party. In the absence of Hasina and her secular Bangladesh Awami League party, the rise of Islamist political parties and other Islamist groups has been visible in the Muslim-majority country of 170 million people.
Zia’s party has been bargaining with the Yunus-led government for an election sometime this year. Yunus said his government wants to make some major reforms before the election.
Pakistan’s Punjab offers health, education, religious tourism incentives to Saudi investors
- Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz meets Prince Mansour, former governor of Hafr Al-Batin province
- Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have sought closer business and economic ties in recent months
ISLAMABAD: The chief minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province has offered Saudi investors incentives as part of a “special package” to explore opportunities in religious tourism, health, education and infrastructure, state-run media reported this week.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif met Prince Mansour bin Mohammed Al Saud, former governor of Saudi Arabia’s Hafr Al-Batin province, on Monday to discuss promoting bilateral relations and mutual cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Punjab, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.
The two nations enjoy cordial ties, with Riyadh frequently assisting cash-strapped Pakistan by supplying oil on deferred payment terms and financial support to stabilize its economy.
“During the discussions, the chief minister invited Saudi investors to explore opportunities in infrastructure, health, education and religious tourism in Punjab,” APP reported. “She assured Saudi investors of her government’s full cooperation and the provision of incentives under a special package.”
Sharif praised Saudi Arabia’s longstanding cooperation with Pakistan, saying Riyadh was like an older brother.
“The hearts of the people of both countries beat together,” she is quoted as saying.
“The Punjab government has ensured foolproof security and established a system based on merit to improve the business environment in the province.”
APP said Prince Mansour assured Pakistan of Saudi Arabia’s support.
“The relationship between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is crucial for the stability and prosperity of the entire region,” he said. “Saudi Arabia will always stand by Pakistan.”
The Kingdom is home to over 2 million Pakistani expatriates and is the source of most overseas workers’ remittances for Pakistan.
The two countries have forged strong business and economic relations in recent months. In October 2024, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed several memorandums of understanding valued at $2.8 billion. In December, Sharif’s office confirmed that seven of 34 MoUs had been converted into agreements worth $560 million.
Indonesia joins BRICS, vows to strengthen Global South cooperation
- BRICS now accounts for about 48% of world’s population, over 37% of global economy
- Jakarta wants to attract more foreign investment, find alternatives to West-led order, expert says
JAKARTA: Indonesia announced on Tuesday its acceptance into the BRICS bloc of emerging economies, vowing to strengthen cooperation with countries of the Global South.
Initially comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the group expanded last year with the accession of Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia and the UAE.
Morphing into the most powerful geopolitical forum outside of the Western world, BRICS now accounts for about 48 percent of the world’s population and more than 37 percent of the global economy.
Rolliansyah Soemirat, spokesperson for Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Indonesia is committed to contributing to the agendas discussed by BRICS, which include economic resilience, tech cooperation and public health.
“BRICS is an important platform for Indonesia to strengthen South-South cooperation and to ensure that the voices and aspirations of Global South countries will be represented in the global decision-making process,” Soemirat said.
Indonesia’s accession had been approved by BRICS leaders in August 2023, but the world’s fourth-most populous country opted to formally join the bloc after the formation of the newly elected government following last year’s elections. Its accession was welcomed by the government of Brazil, which holds the group’s rotating presidency in 2025.
“As the largest economy and most populous nation in Southeast Asia, Indonesia shares with other BRICS members the support for the reform of the global governance institutions and contributes significantly to the deepening of Global South cooperation,” Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Brazil holds the BRICS presidency this year under the theme “Enhancing Global South Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance” and will host the annual leaders’ summit in Rio de Janeiro in July.
Indonesia’s interest in joining BRICS is likely a part of the government’s drive to attract more foreign investment, said Muhammad Waffaa Kharisma, researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.
“The move is to do with seeking opportunities to expand sources of investment from a group of countries that do not force Indonesia to choose sides or leave traditional partnerships with the West,” Kharisma told Arab News.
“However, this outcome is not guaranteed,” he said. “The investment patterns of BRICS countries have not shown a clear tendency to prioritize or politically favor fellow members. There is no assurance that Indonesia’s investments will increase significantly.”
Joining BRICS may also be a way for Indonesia to showcase the look of a “new global order,” Kharisma added.
“Symbolically, it is a signal from a country like Indonesia, which has benefitted from the West-led order all this time but wants to integrate even more (into) the global order, that it is seeking ‘alternatives’ should the West-led orders become … less friendly to developing countries.”
Ukraine says conducting combat operations in Russia’s Kursk region
- Russia’s army said over the weekend that Kyiv was mounting a “counter-attack” in the region
- Ukraine’s forces have held onto a swathe of territory since a shock incursion last August
KYIV: Ukraine said Tuesday its forces struck a Russian military “command post” in Russia’s Kursk region during “combat operations,” while backtracking on a claim it had launched a fresh offensive in the border area.
Russia’s army said over the weekend that Kyiv was mounting a “counter-attack” in the region, where Ukraine’s forces have held onto a swathe of territory since a shock incursion last August.
In an English-language statement, Kyiv’s army said it had launched a “high precision” strike near the village of Belaya — south-east of Kyiv-controlled territory — without saying if it had used Western long-range weapons.
An original version of the statement, published by the Ukrainian General Staff on its Telegram account, said Ukraine had launched “new offensive operations” in the Kursk region.
The post was then edited and the reference to a “new offensive” removed.
“This strike is an integral part of the combat operations of units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, which conduct combat operations” in the Kursk region, the updated statement said.
Pro-Kremlin military bloggers have reported a powerful new Ukrainian offensive, but Kyiv had not commented on those reports, only saying in regular daily briefings that fighting in the region was ongoing.
President Volodymyr Zelensky had on Monday also alluded to fighting in the Kursk region in his evening address, stating that Kyiv was “maintaining a buffer zone on Russian territory” and “actively destroying Russian military potential there.”
It is not clear if Ukraine had advanced much in the region, but the assault would come nearly three years into Moscow’s invasion and two weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump will return to the White House.
Trump has vowed to begin talks to end the Ukraine war and Kyiv’s hold in Kursk could influence any negotiations.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Ukraine’s “position in Kursk” would “factor in any negotiation that may come about in the coming year.”
Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into the western border region in August 2024, before Russia repelled some attacks, including with the help of North Korean soldiers sent by Pyongyang.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, French far-right leader known for fiery rhetoric against immigration, dies at 96
- A polarizing figure in French politics, Le Pen was convicted numerous times of antisemitism, discrimination and inciting racial violence
- Le Pen routinely countered that he was simply a patriot protecting the identity of “eternal France”
PARIS: Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France’s far-right National Front who was known for fiery rhetoric against immigration and multiculturalism that earned him both staunch supporters and widespread condemnation, died Tuesday. He was 96.
A polarizing figure in French politics, Le Pen was convicted numerous times of antisemitism, discrimination and inciting racial violence. His statements — including Holocaust denial, racist denunciations of Muslims and immigrants and his 1987 proposal to forcibly isolate people with AIDS in special facilities — shocked his critics and strained his political alliances.
Le Pen routinely countered that he was simply a patriot protecting the identity of “eternal France.”
Le Pen, who once reached the second round of the 2002 presidential election, was eventually estranged from his daughter, Marine Le Pen, who renamed his National Front party, kicked him out and transformed it into one of France’s most powerful political forces while distancing herself from her father’s extremist image.
Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally as the party is now known, confirmed Le Pen’s death in a post on social media platform X. Bardella’s unusually warm tribute highlighted Le Pen’s polemical past, including his ties to the Algerian war, describing him as a “tribune of the people” who “always served France” and expressing condolences to his family, including Marine.
The post appeared to blur the distance the rebranded party had sought to establish between its firebrand founder and its more polished, modern direction under Marine Le Pen.
French President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist, expressed “his condolences to (Le Pen's) family and friends,” in an uncharacteristically short statement issued by the presidential palace.
“A historic figure of the far right, he played a role in the public life of our country for almost 70 years, which is now a matter for history to judge,” the statement read.
Marine Le Pen, thousands of kilometers (miles) away in the French territory of Mayotte, was inspecting the aftermath of destructive Cyclone Chido at the time of her father’s death.
Despite his exclusion from the party in 2015, Le Pen’s divisive legacy endures, marking decades of French political history and shaping the trajectory of the far right.
His death came at a crucial time for his daughter. She now faces a potential prison term and a ban on running for political office if convicted in an embezzling trial.
As Le Pen’s health deteriorated in recent years, he was hospitalized several times, including after he suffered a stroke.
Le Pen is survived by his wife and three daughters, Marie-Caroline, Yann and Marine.
